Hay Festival Global has today unveiled the final selection for The Platform, an open call for creatives aged 21–28 to submit new work to be showcased in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
Supported by funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, The Platform is a brand-new initiative to promote, support and develop young creative talent.
Successful artists will share their work with audiences on Wednesday 29 May in the Festival’s central Exchange Marquee and across the Festival site, plus meet and network with established artists over a three-day visit.
Applications to The Platform were open to a range of art forms, including theatre poetry, digital art, live arts, film, audio and literature, with a focus on bringing together a diverse and representative group of artists from across the UK.
The successful artists whose work will be featured this year include poet Bradley Taylor; writer and performer Emma Rogerson; theatre maker Grace Waga Glevey; writer and producer Martha Bird; writer and director Paul Koloman Kaiba; poet and film maker Elliot Waloschek; writer and editor Sabine Wilson-Patrick; spoken word artist Samuel Mansell aka DeSide; actor and playwright Tayla Kenyon; and theatre collective Harry Clayton-Lucey, Flynn Mchardy and Arthur Bickers aka Moving Feet.
Free tickets to The Platform events are available now at hayfestival.org/hay-on-wye.
Full participant biographies and statements are available below.
Hay Festival CEO Julie Finch said: “Hay Festival Global is a charity built on creative collaborations. The Platform is designed to support young artists in building connections, on stage and off, showcasing their work to our Festival audience while facilitating creative collaborations with established artists. We are delighted to present these 10 pieces at Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye 2024 and cannot wait to see what this next generation of artists has in store for us!”
Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye 2024 is supported by lead sponsors Baillie Gifford, Welsh Government, Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales, lead media partner the BBC and digital media partner TikTok.
Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction, while offering insights and debate around significant global issues, the programme sees writers, policy makers, pioneers and innovators take part from around the world, offering big thinking and bold ideas.
Events offer something for all, beginning with the free Schools Programme, 23–24 May, and including a vibrant strand for families throughout.
Hay Festival Events
In addition to The Platform, other new projects woven through the Festival include the daily News Review offering analysis of the latest events, the first-ever Hay Festival Sports Day, and Hay Festival Green, prompting innovative solutions to the climate crisis.
Late nights at the Festival are given over to great music, comedy and entertainment, while a host of free pop-up activities and performances around the site keeps audience entertained between sessions.
Events will take place across eight stages in the redesigned free-to-enter Festival site at Dairy Meadows – which also offers a range of spaces for audiences to explore and enjoy, including the Bookshop, Wild Garden, Make & Take Tent, a host of exhibitors and market stalls, cafés and restaurants, and the new Family Garden where young readers can kick-start their creative journeys – as well as in and around Hay-on-Wye, including performances all week at St Mary’s Church.
